A WAY FORWARD – Cape Cod Commission Executive Director Paul Niedzwiecki provides an overview of the SmarterCape Partnership, which seeks to leverage the OpenCape network for digital regionalization of information and service.

Work leading up to May 2012 summit

With eyes on an e-permitting system as its “first win” in digital regionalization, the SmarterCape Partnership rolled out a draft vision statement this week that will serve as the basis for a May 2012 summit in Falmouth.

Through the Cape Cod Commission, the partnership will seek up to $500,000 in state grant funds to develop an e-permitting system for Cape Communities. The Town of Yarmouth has made significant progress on developing such a system for its own needs, and the partnership will use that model as the basis for moving the ball forward.

The goal is to develop a system that could start to be deployed about six months into 2012 at the same time the co-location center for OpenCape is scheduled to go on-line at its building atop the county complex. OpenCape is the $40 million fiber optic network that will link all towns across the Cape, Islands and into southeastern Massachusetts.

The SmarterCape Partnership is the working group that formed after the first SmarterCape Summit in May 2011 to keep the initiative moving. It has representation from the Cape Cod Commission, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, Cape Cod Technology Council, OpenCape and Cape Cod Economic Development Council.

Presented at the Dec. 14 session was a draft vision statement developed out of comments received at the 2011 SmarterCape Summit in May and a subsequent workshop in the fall. The vision statement is expected to serve as the foundation for the 2012 summit, scheduled for May 14 and 15 at the Sea Crest in Falmouth.

The partnership is looking for volunteers to work on various subcommittee to help develop areas for presentation at the 2012 summit.

The introduction to the draft "SmarterCape 2025 Vision" reads: “In 2025 Cape Cod is a transformative community that enhances and further develops its traditional spirit of entrepreneurship and culture of creativity through the innovative use of technology and communication while preserving its unique history and natural beauty to create an exceptional place to live, work, and visit."

Under this there are paragraphs addressing smarter environment, development, economy, education, healthcare, transportation and government.

Along with talking through a draft vision statement with roughly 90 attendees at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater’s Julie Harris Stage, leaders from each group were on hand to talk through parts of the statement and fielded questions about SmarterCape and its goals.

The partnership is working to meet a Jan. 15 application deadline for a Community Innovation Challenge Grant through the Executive Office for Administration and Finance.

Peter Karlson, president/CEO of NeuEon Inc. and the Cape Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneur In-Residence, said that the e-permitting application is one of many that could be developed and deployed to meet the needs of the Cape’s municipalities.

“The problem we're looking at here is very solvable,” Karlson said.

He said there are perhaps two dozen applications that all towns use in some fashion. These applications could be developed, centrally stored and accessed over the OpenCape network and would have the ability to provide a common data platform and linkages among towns that don’t exist at present.

Karlson said that while the entire OpenCape network would not be ready, services could be delivered over a slower network, and increase speed as the system is built out.

The full draft vision statement will be posted with the online version of this story at barnstablepatriot.com. For more information, log on to www.smartercapepartnership.com.

SmarterCape 2025 Vision (DRAFT)

In 2025 Cape Cod is a transformative community that enhances and further develops its traditional spirit of entrepreneurship and culture of creativity through the innovative use of technology and communication while preserving its unique history and natural beauty to create an exceptional place to live, work, and visit.

In a Smarter Cape Cod:

Smarter Environment preserves, restores and sustains our precious natural assets. Natural resources are efficiently managed through Smart-grid technologies and conservation, and energy is produced locally from bioenergy, solar, wind and water technologies, some of which are developed in our own centers of academic and research excellence. Comprehensive water and waste water management preserves the integrity of our environment and fosters sustainable land use.

Smarter Development creates thriving and vibrant village centers where everything needed to live and work is nearby and accessible by bicycle and pedestrian friendly streets. Open air markets and diverse retail, office and residential mUlti-story development are commonplace within villages.

Smarter Economy builds on current strengths, while boldly pursuing growth and diversification of the full year economy to create high-paying jobs based on innovation, technology, and a knowledge workforce. Thriving local agriculture, fishing, aquaculture, health care, retail and cultural and creative sectors, along with an extended visitor season, provide a strong economic foundation.

Smarter Education harnesses and synthesizes the energy of our youth and the knowledge and experience of our adults to create a knowledge workforce that competes in the global economy. Robust collaborations between government, business and the academic and research communities catalyze innovative partnerships for research, product and services development, and the creation of new businesses.

Smarter Healthcare provides world-class preventative and restorative healthcare to all that is affordable and efficiently managed, taking advantage of new technologies, remote resources, and innovation to create a strong, healthy population.

Smarter Transportation creates a more effective and efficient multi-modal flow of people and commerce between Cape Cod, Boston, Providence, New York and the world; while Intelligent Transportation Systems support a transformation of transportation management on the Cape that reduces traffic congestion and increases transportation options.

Smarter Government harnesses technology to collaborate across historical boundaries providing efficient services, a sustainable revenue model, and a vibrant participatory civic governance, while supporting the SmarterCape goals to provide the best possible quality of life for our residents, the best possible experience for our visitors, and increasing the overall economic output of our region.